A hard-fought 2-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion not only gave Chelsea FC their fifth Premier League victory in a row, but also a big step towards international business in 2024/25.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino made one change after the 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest: Gusto started instead of Thiago Silva (bench). At Brighton, coach Roberto de Zerbi made two changes after the 1-1 draw at Newcastle: Instead of Welbeck (bench) and Veltman (injured), the recovered Joao Pedro and Lamptey started.
Referee withdraws penalty – Palmer with feeling
After a quiet start, the Blues gradually took over more and more of the play in the first half. However, the first good chance went to the Seagulls: Adringa shot just wide of the post (11′). In the 19th minute, referee Michael Salisbury awarded Chelsea a penalty, but reversed his decision after a video review. Buonanotte had played the ball against Cucurella.
The longer the first half went on, the better the visitors became. Verbruggen saved from Cucurella (26′), but the Brighton keeper was powerless to stop Palmer’s wonderful header from full stretch (34′). Pochettino then had to make a substitution before the break: Mudryk had hurt himself in a collision with Lamptey and Nkunku came on (42). Just before the break, Joao Pedro had the Seagulls’ best chance before the break, but was denied by Petrovic (45.+8).
Nkunku increases – James sees red – Welbeck makes it exciting
After the break, the game initially went back and forth at high speed from penalty area to penalty area. Nkunku narrowly missed (48′), while at the other end Germany’s newly-crowned European Championship player Groß was completely free to shoot from close range, but pushed the ball just past the post (57′). Instead of 1:1, it was 2:0 for the Blues a little later: Gusto, who had been sent through on the wing, played Nkunku in the center and the ex-Leipzig player shot in accurately (64′).
Brighton lacked the final punch for a long time in the closing stages. After James was sent off for kicking Joao Pedro (88′), Chelsea had to play the ten minutes of stoppage time with ten men. The agile Adingra first hit the inside of the post (90.+4), but Welbeck scored the equalizer from close range (90.+7). In the end, however, it remained
The Blues play AFC Bournemouth at home on Sunday (5pm) on the final 38th matchday. One point will be enough to secure sixth place. Theoretically, it would also be possible to leapfrog Tottenham (at bottom club Sheffield Wednesday on matchday 38) into fifth place. Brighton host Manchester United.
